9 big Indian startups that shut shop in 2016

While 2015 saw launch of three to four startups a day, the second quarter of 2016 witnessed a lot of layoffs and shutdowns. Lack of funds, plummeting sales and rising competition were the major reasons for the shutdowns. 2016 was ‘deadly’ especially for food startups such as TinyOwl, Dazo, ZuperMeal and many others.

Here are 9 leading startups that shut shops in 2016:

1. TinyOwl

Food-ordering firm TinyOwl shut down its operations in May in all 11 cities where it was operational, except Mumbai. Founded in 2014, the startup faced several financial problems and laid off more than 600 employees between September 2015 and January 2016. In June 2016, the company was acquired by Roadrunnr and rebranded as Runnr.

2. Dazo

Dazo, an app-based service that curated and delivered meals, shut down its operations in October this year -— barely a year after it was started. The startup was backed by bigwigs such as Google India chief Ranjan Anandan, TaxiForSure co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna, and former Freecharge chief executive Alok Goel.

3. PepperTap

Gurgaon-based grocery-delivery startup PepperTap shut down its operations earlier this year after months of struggle to stay afloat. The company was facing tough competition from rivals including Grofers and Bigbasket. The startup was launched in November 2014 and had raised funding in four rounds from Sequoia Capital, SAIF Partners, Snapdeal and others. It had also acquired another budding hyperlocal grocery marketplace, Jiffstore.

4. Fashionara

Bangalore-based Fashionara, which was launched by former Reliance Trends CEO Arun Sirdeshmukh and former Times Internet chief technology officer Darpan Munjal in 2012, closed its business in May 2016. It raised $4 million from Helion Venture Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners and scaled business in apparel, accessories and footwear segment.

5. Purple Squirrel

Purple Squirrel, an EdTech financial startup, backed by Matrix, closed down business in May 2016. The Mumbai-based startup was launched to connect students with industry leaders and big companies for industrial exposure and training. However, it was forced to shut down due to continuously dipping sales and increasing cash burn.

6. AskMe

The consumer internet search platform AskMe shut down in August. The company is said to have been facing severe cash crunch. The shut down is said to have triggered due to the exit of its principal investor Astro Holdings. The shutdown left about 4,000 of its employees jobless. A variety of reason, from weak technology to aggressive acquisitions, are said to be responsible for the online retailer’s failure.

7. Zupermeal

ZuperMeal, a home-delivery food venture backed by celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor, too shut down its operations this year. The startup shut shop in May, some eight months after it raised seed funding.

8. GrocShop

The Mumbai-based startup offered grocery shopping from the comfort of homes or offices at competitive costs. The startup was founded in November 2014 by IIT-Bombay alumni Rahul Kumar and Ayush Garg. It was a part of Microsoft’s startup programme, BizSpark, and also among the 16 startups which were selected for the Google Launchpad programme.

9. FranklyMe

Another name in the failed startups list is FranklyMe, a video micro-blogging website founded by Abhishek Gupta and Nikunj Jain in 2014. It has raised $600k seed funding from Matrix partners. In another round, it received an undisclosed amount from investors. Despite the fact that it has been a well-funded company, it failed to capture the market attention and closed down all operations in February 2016.